The Magic Faraway Tree

 The Magic Faraway Tree, the film of Enid Blyton’s book series, premiered in the UK back in March, and locally as of this weekend. Let’s just get to it.

Meet the Thompsons. Tim (Andrew Garfield) dreams of a lucrative homemade pasta sauce business, while Polly (Claire Foy) has just invented a smart fridge. Their three kids - Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche), and Fran (Billie Gadsdon) - are really addicted to their tech. Polly’s employers add spy cameras to her smart fridge, so she quits. Tim promptly moves the family out to farm country, where he hopes to make his dreams come true. The farmer (writer Simon Farnaby) whose barn they’re renting warns them not to go into the woods.

Fran goes into the woods anyway, where she encounters the titular tree. There, she encounters various fair folks, such as Silky (Nicola Couglan); Moonface (Nonso Anozie); Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns); and Mr. Watzisname (Oliver Chris). Every day, the fae and their guests can climb their big ladder to a random, wondrous world. It could be The Land of Goodies one day, The Land of Birthdays the next. Fran’s siblings join her on the next visit.

Unfortunately, Beth, in her impatience, gets her cold-hearted grandma (Jennifer Saunders) breathing down her parents’ necks. Then, she accidentally wishes for her dad’s crops to go bad. Perhaps one of the other worlds can help her make it right. That’s pretty much it.

I never actually read the novels, nor watched their TV adaptation Enchanted Lands in the 1990s. But from what I’ve been told, some of the books’ concepts wouldn’t fly today. Case in point is Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson), a sadistic teacher who originally debuted as Dame Slap, a change she laments. It is what it is, I guess. There’s a more pressing issue related to her, though, which is her role.

Snap is set up as the film’s magical big bad, much like He Who Must Not Be Named. She’s petty, childish, and absolutely bonkers thanks to Ferguson’s performance. Just wait until you hear her menacingly sing Teddy Bear’s Picnic; she doesn’t want anyone to laugh at it, but what did she expect? So, what’s the problem with her? She shows up during the last twenty minutes and is another thing that happens instead of the thing. Two sequels have already been greenlit, so maybe she should - nay, she should - show up for a larger role.

The phrase “things happen” describes much of the plot. Throughout it, Fran is nearly arrested for “being greedy” in The Land of Goodies, Mr. Oom Boom Boom (Mark Heap) tries to sell Silky to Santa (who never appears), and Joe flies a magic bus that can fall asleep. The film is mostly too light for these perils to hit their mark. It’s not all frivolous, though, when Beth enters the Land of Birthdays (that’s where she makes her wish). It’s pretty clear this was made for kids, and they might take to some of its crudest humor better than their parents.

Speaking of parents, Garfield and Foy are likable enough as Tim and Polly. Their kids, whose tech addiction is played to satirical levels, take a while to endear themselves to the audience. Beth and Joe fuss around, while Fran is selectively mute for reasons. It’s a bit much, but they get better once they start their magical adventures. Admittedly, Fran didn’t need much character development, but Beth’s progression is the strongest of the trio. 

Much like Ferguson, the actors playing the Fair Folks go full pantomime in their roles. Moonface, in particular, thinks highly of himself, and Anozie playing up his ego is pretty fun. He gets a surprisingly moment of tenderness later on, though that requires me to reveal Tim’s secret. I can reveal, however, that Mr. Watzisname is surprisingly entertaining, while the Angry Pixie (Hiran Abeysekera) is just there. A few more notable folks include the Know-it-Alls (Simon Russell Beale, Lenny Henry and Michael Palin), a policeman in the Land of Goodies (Michael Dapaah) and a group of Birthday elves. Their broad acting is reflected rather well by their costumes (designed by Ann Maskrey), worlds (Alexandra Walker) and makeup designs (Karen Hartley).

The Magic Faraway Tree is just an easy time at the movies. It looks nice, feels nice, and plays nice. It's a decent movie, don't get me wrong, but it didn't entirely sell me on its esteemed books. I am, however, curious about its sequels, just in case they move along better than this one. See this installment if you're curious; I said enough about it.

I Swear

 I Swear won BAFTA awards for star Robert Aramayo and casting director Lauren Evans this past February. It premiered stateside in April, but since it never ran near me, I had to wait a while to watch it on Amazon. Let’s see what the UK has seen since October.

In 1983, 12-year-old John Davidson (Scott Ellis Watson) lives in Galashiels with dreams of football. Everything seems well until he starts showing signs of Tourette Syndrome. His various tics get him banned from the dinner table and trouble with his headmaster (Ron Donachie). Just about everyone thinks he’s acting out for no reason. His father quits the family, while the headmaster kicks him out.

Years later, John (Aramayo) is now formally diagnosed with Tourette's, and lives as normally as he can. One day, his old classmate Murray Achenbach (Francesco Piacentini-Smith) invites him to dinner. Murray’s mom, Dottie (Maxine Peake), a mental health nurse, invites John to move in, much to his mom, Heather’s (Shirley Henderson) objections. Over time, John finds steady employment under Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan), a community center director, and becomes an activist for others like him.

Writer/Director Kirk Jones’s (Waking Ned Devine) greatest asset is his empathy. He gets us into John’s headspace really well when his Tourette’s first manifests. We understand, even if everyone else can’t, that he doesn’t want to act out. As he’s rejected, assaulted, and even charged with assault, the eggshells he walks around are practically laid out. We spend most of the movie unsure whether to laugh at some of his most audacious outbursts. And yet, it feels normal, even peaceful, when he finds himself amongst others with Tourette’s. It’s especially nice when he and a young woman, Lucy (Andrea Bisset), have a swear-a-thon late in the film.

If I haven't made myself clear, both Watson and Aramayo are excellent as both Johns. But let's not discount their supporting cast. Heather, even at her most unsympathetic, is clearly straining under pressure. She's at the very least sympathetic, unlike the Headmaster. It really lightens up when Dottie enters the picture, who's the pinnacle of compassion. She understands it when he accidentally punches her or rubs in her impending death from cancer (which turns out to be a false alarm). She tells him not to apologize for anything, which he keeps doing anyway. Tommy, meanwhile, has a limit to his understanding, but it does little to impede his audience likability. You'll especially feel it when he suddenly passes away, and John is banned from the funeral.

Lest you think the film exaggerates John's condition (which he refuses to call a disability), we have the actual John to compare the cinematic one during the credits. Aramayo's John is on-point with the actual one, who was famously documented by the BBC across the decades beginning with 1989's John's Not Mad. Strangely, the film omits the actual filming, but not the archival footage. Oh well, I guess.

So, what else does the film have? While not filmed in Galashiels, it makes good use of other Scottish locales such as the Hippodrome Cinema, which is the country's oldest one. That's where John has his first date, which goes awry before the main event, Tootsie, even begins. Those few minutes make for some good Anemoia for that time in cinema; and yes, Anemoia is an actual word. Anyway, some of his outbursts, such as him blurting out his poker hand, are still funny. After everything he's been through, it's still nice when John finds "normality" at the end. He even ends the film having a conversation with a complete stranger.  

You've still got plenty of time before next year's Oscars. And hopefully, the Academy will find plenty of time to check out I Swear however and wherever they can. It just premiered on Netflix stateside yesterday, so there's another avenue for them. You should still check it out even if you aren't an Academy member. It's really that good, I Swear. 

The End of Oak Street

 Meet the Platts.

It’s 1982, and Denise (Anne Hatthaway) is an aspiring author whose marriage to Greg (Ewan McGregor) is deteriorating. Her future bestseller is, coincidentally enough, about a woman who leaves her family. Her daughter, Audrey (Maisy Stella), hopes to study at Cornell, preferably with Carl Sagan. Her son, Brian (Christian Convery) is best buds with their blue-heeler, Starbuck. Greg, meanwhile, works as a secret pizza guy.

And then the dinosaurs move in.

For clarity, time bubbles keep popping up in their neighborhood. A really large one transplants the neighborhood right in the middle of a prehistoric landscape. Dinosaurs and other ancient fauna start prowling the streets, eating anybody they find. The Platts work out their family troubles as they try to survive. Perhaps another time bubble can send them Back to the Future.

That sums up The End of Oak Street, which was conceived by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows), and produced by J.J. Abrams (among others). Much like Abrams’ Super 8, it’s spiritually reminiscent of many a film with Steven Spielberg’s name. They mostly boil down to “a normal life is upended by the abnormal,” and that’s always been a fun concept. It's further proven here, as the Platts spend most of its 99-minutes surviving their temporal displacement. You'll spend some of it figuring out the mechanics as they do. Don't expect any big secret with the time bubbles; there isn't any.

Sure, some of the CGI effects are obvious, but the ancient neighbors never cease to be scary. Why’s that? Because they have a secret weapon in cinematographer Michael Gioulakis. Sometimes, we see glimpses of them roaming around, while other times, he leaves the camera running as something big stalks around. There’s a spectacular oner where the Platts fight an Allosaurus, and a standout scene where Denise fights a slithering Titanoboa in her kitchen. His split-diopter effects make some shots more memorable than most DPs would (no offense).

Of course, the thrills are meaningless if they don't happen to a compelling cast. The Platts fit the bill pretty well. It's quite thrilling to watch Denise, Audrey & Brian become action survivors, able to, at least, outwit the ancient neighbors. Greg comes admirably close, if not for an unfortunate twist midway through. Still, it's kind of nice how they work things out. You'll cheer inside when Starbuck has his big hero moment, and lives. 

Who else do we have on the block? There's Jeanette Christiansen (Jordan Alexa Davis), a new neighbor and Brian's crush who joins the Platts later on. She's an okay character. Mel (P.J. Byrne), the Platts' next-door neighbor, is obnoxious, but hardly deserving of his prolonged death by pterosaurs. Mrs. Valcourt (Emily Kuroda), the town's librarian, puts up a valiant last stand against a swarm of pseudosuchians (ancient crocodiles). Mrs. Huddleston (Anne Gee Byrd), Denise's neighbor, is even less deserving of a violent end. 

What else can I talk about? If you can probably infer, the violence is brutal, though as much as a PG-13 rating allows. It's probably as violent a true-to-the-text adaptation of Jurassic Park might be. Just thought you should be warned. The violence & serenity is paired nicely with Michael Giacchino's score, which further shows why he's one of the best modern film composers around. There, I said it. How else can I describe him?

There is one major twist at The End of Oak Street. It's a little weird, a little bit contradictory, and a bit horrifying to think about. But, whatever. It's still a spectacular dino thriller, one of the best outside of Jurassic Park. It's a great way to end this summer or even start next summer once it's out on home media. See it soon to see what I mean. I've said enough.

The Ribbon Hero

 The Ribbon Hero, which premiered last weekend on Netflix, is loosely adapted from the manga Princess Knight by Osamu Tezuka - the most important manga creator who ever lived. How does it live up to its pedigree? 

ACT 1

Sapphire, the Princess of Silverland, escapes with her retainer, Zirco, when it’s destroyed by a Nergal. They’re giant monsters who spread a rainbow mold and serve the ominous King of Ash, who’s kind of an evil God. Nobody dares defy the King, for they all fear his wrath.

They arrive in the neighboring Kingdom of Goldland, where a local girl, Pine, takes them in and helps them find work at a crystal mine. A Nergal shows up, and Pine falls into a crystal pool, from which she emerges as a super heroine - The Princess Knight - who drives off the Nergal. The populace sees Sapphire as their prophesied Angel of Hope. The Pope refuses to believe that it’s her, partially out of xenophobia. His top-enforcer, Velvet, eventually helps Sapphire fight the monsters. But will they be ready for the final fight?

ACT 2

The narrative, which is broken up into seven - seven! - acts, complete with a theatrical curtain transition, goes really fast. Silverland getting destroyed in the first minutes is the start, in more ways than one. What I described in the summary is just under an hour of screentime! Character progression for a few supporting players, like Velvet and Sapphire’s fellow miner Chorogy, fluctuates. The exposition dumps can sometimes be overwhelming. The final boss fights take up almost an hour of runtime. That ending also takes a strange and meta-fictional turn.

The most annoying thing is that the conflicts mostly and repetitively go like this:

I wanna help! I have the power!

Well, you can’t.

Why not?

You just can’t.

It’s kind of like a TV show speed-run, if you catch my drift. And no, I don’t mean the original anime, as its plot is fundamentally different.

ACT 3

Sapphire is a likable enough heroine. She’s courageous, selfless, and occasionally goofy (though not without cause). She’d be compelling if it weren’t for the uneven screenplay, but at least she ain’t boring or obnoxious. Zirco is fine, but Pine stood out better for being just a ray of sunshine. Amongst their fellow miners, we have Hecate - the only other character name I recognize from the source material - the cool big-sis type; Rock - a recurring character from Tezuka’s other works - the cool dude; twins Chick and Tack, both of whom are just there; and Chorogy. Chorogy’s cowardly behavior is tolerable, while his death is particularly underwhelming (his last words, a weary “you’re kidding,” sum it up).

It was hard to get a read on Velvet, at first. Is he a good guy? Is he a jerk who enforces the theocracy? He kind of switches between being both. Thankfully, it’s quite welcome when he solidifies into an ally. He’s consistently more likable than his boss, who insists on sacrificing soldiers and orphans for the King of Ash. Said King finally shows up in the last half-hour, and he’s not much of a presence. In fact, he and his Nergal are just generic doomsday villains.

ACT 4

For the most part, the character designs by Kei Mochizuki & Issei Arakazaki eschew Tezuka’s Disney-esque artstyle for their own modern one. Sapphire, while virtually unrecognizable, is memorable on her own terms. Part of it is due to her oversized hairbow, the source of her powers, and her actual Princess Knight look. Her compatriots, such as Rock, Hecate, and the twins, are recognizable enough. Zirco, meanwhile, is perhaps closest to Tezuka’s artwork. 

These characters inhabit a world visualized with a vivid color palette and production design. The various locales, whether it be Silverland, Goldland or the Nergals’ sanctum, are all splendid. Even the Nergals’ rainbow mold, which is mostly forgotten about once Sapphire becomes Princess Knight, is effectively eerie. Sapphire’s magical abilities, such as her swan transformation, are pretty nifty. She gets plenty of usage out of them during each exciting battle scene. The closest point-of-comparison I have to its visual style is the series Kill la Kill, but they don’t share any staff.

ACT 5

The Nergals, as well as their King, are visualized with some rough CGI. They look like something from the turn of the century, and yet, they aren’t too intrusive. Maybe because they’re supposed to be eerie things. Meanwhile, the film sometimes switches animation styles at semi-random, such as rendering Sapphire’s post-debut heroic montage as a puppet show.  If I’m annoyed by it, it’s because I’d rather see her heroics as they happened.

And finally, there’s a pretty great score by Ryuichi Takada & Satoru Kosaki. Even if the exposition is a bit much, at least their score is nice to listen to. The battle music are the obvious standouts. The sound mix made it a bit hard to listen to the dialogue, though I wonder if I need to adjust my TV (which I finally figured out how to do recently).

ACT 6

Princess Knight is a feather in the cap of its legendary creator. I don't know if The Ribbon Hero will be the same for director Yuki Igarashi (the Lop & Ocho episode of Star Wars: Visions), but for what it's worth, it's still an interesting watch. While the story isn't perfect, its narrative themes are pretty admirable. Check it out if you're curious; what else can I say?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

  Spider-Man: Beyond the Spiderverse, the finale of the animated Spiderverse trilogy, is supposed to come out next year. In the meantime, you can catch Spidey with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his latest live-action MCU entry. Judging by the record box-office, chances are you already have.

So, what can you expect if you haven’t?

After the multiverse fiasco last time, nobody remembers that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ever existed. His alter-ego, Spider-Man, however, is NYC’s most-beloved superhero. He works well with the NYPD, particularly with detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), but not so much with the more violent vigilante, Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). His former friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), are living their best lives. He’s just stuck in his.

One day, Spidey discovers that somebody can psionically body-hop across the city. This stranger drives, by proxy, a stolen tank into the Department of Damage Control, where they release super villain Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion (Michael Mando). They’re apparently looking for something, or someone, and Spidey has to find out what it is before anyone else gets hurt. 

And, while this is going on, Spidey’s powers go haywire. His Spider Senses are unbearably boosted, and he can now fire webs from his wrists, rather than from his traditional web-shooter gadgets. It seems that he’s becoming more spider than man, and perhaps a visit with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) can help him out. But he’s not going to like Dr. Banner when he gets angry.

This brand new day features a new director (Destin Daniel Cretton) with a returning composer (Michael Giacchino) and writers (Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers). As with Jon Watts before him, Cretton finds a right tonal balance between Spidey’s two lives. As fun as the action and jokes are, it’s at its most riveting as Spidey reconnects with Ned and MJ. It’s quite shocking when Spidey’s new antagonist spoils a compelling rooftop scene between Spidey and MJ. On the bright side, there’s Spidey’s public adoration, plus the implication that there is a way around Dr. Strange’s memory spell.

Should I try to keep who Spidey’s new foe is a secret? Marvel made an effort to keep it so. But it’s been out for a while, so I’ll just say who it is - Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). I’ll keep her true motive a secret, but I’ll just say it’s pretty understandable. What’s a bit less understandable is some of her pettiest actions (like forcing her psychic proxies to jump to their doom, even with Spidey around). It doesn’t mesh well with her otherwise anti-villain role. Still, her snapping and psychically freezing the city is fairly consistent with the eventual Dark Phoenix of past films. That’s why it only bothers me “a bit” rather than “a lot.”

Holland’s still great as Peter and Spidey, and so is just about everyone else. Zendaya and Batalon are still a great duo, even if MJ and Ned can’t remember Peter. Bernthal, as Frank, is a gruff guy with a good heart. Him realizing that he’s fighting the Hulk is hilarious; the hints of his dark and troubled past are not. The usually R-Rated Punisher does pretty well, I think, in this PG-13 setting. Mando, who last appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming, makes the most of his screen time as Gargan. Marisa Tomei, whose Aunt May died last time, has a few strong scenes with Peter. Colón-Zayas, whose DeWolff is a pretty significant supporting player in the comics, makes for a great friend on the force. Tramell Tillman is decently insidious as the true villain, Bill Metzger. 

And finally, there’s Ruffalo as Dr. Banner and The Hulk. After almost a decade of the refined “Professor Hulk,” Jean inadvertently brings back the familiar “Savage Hulk” when she proxies him. It’s a bit disappointing to see this character development undone, but it also makes some sense. Between this and Spidey’s mutations, it’s arguing that forcibly suppressing one’s nature is dangerous. I admit that it does it well. Now, how will future films handle this change?

As with the previous films, this Spidey is still a visual and audio Marvel. The opening montage, where Spidey handles an assortment of comic book foes, such as Tombstone (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, his Spiderverse voice actor) and Boomerang, is pretty neat, even if said foes barely feature beyond it. A few more visual highlights include Jean’s psychic breakdown, as well as the final battle with The Hand ninja clan. Special notice must be given to the elaborate choreography for Jean’s body-hop victims. On the audio level, there’s Spidey heightened Spidey-Senses, Jean’s psychic powers, and Giacchino’s score (though that’s a given).

You probably don’t need my persuading to see Spidey’s Brand New Day. So, I think I’ll do something odd - suggest that you also find time for a smaller film (I’ll let you pick). This film’s record box-office is nice, but as with its star, it can’t carry the world alone. I think I said enough.